The Unified Prevention! (UP!) Coalition for a Drug Free Doña Ana County has partnered with a group of New Mexico State University pre-pharmacy students. Together they are doing what they can to protect our community from prescription drug abuse, and warn consumers about the dangers of leaving prescription drugs in accessible spaces.

The NMSU students are part of a group called Safe Prescription Use, Disposal & Storage (SPUDS), which is a subcommittee of the NMSU Pre-Pharmacy Society. This group came into existence in 2014 with the help of 2014 student chairs Michaela Gallegos and Isabella Chairez and Pre-Pharmacy Society advisors Amy Buesing, director; Traci White, assistant director and Deb Franzoy, program specialist.

“Unfortunately, medication safety for children is a topic that may not be considered until it's too late. Young children can be harmed by accidently ingesting medications that they confuse for candy, and prevention is really up to parents. The SPUDS program is trying to show parents how there are actually very simple ways to protect their children,” said Sonia Portillo, co-chair of SPUDS.

Accidental use of prescription drugs is not the only problem. A 2013 Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey (YRRS), with an assessment of tobacco, alcohol and drug use among Doña Ana County (DAC) high school students, revealed 9.9 percent of students surveyed used painkillers to get high in the last year and 18.8 percent used prescription drugs improperly. Nationwide, the office of the attorney general reports roughly 6.5 million people ages 12 and older are current nonmedical users of prescription drugs.

“There is a real problem here in New Mexico and in our county,” Buesing said. “It is important to educate the community and provide ways to address the issues.”

Because the UP! Coalition and SPUDS aspire to achieve similar goals, it made sense for the two groups to establish a partnership. This collaboration allows additional opportunities for the pre-pharmacy students to have a voice in our community on issues that directly impact youth and young adults; promote use of medication lock boxes; partner with local community pharmacies to place medication lock boxes near cash registers; print and distribute community brochures about safely disposing prescription drugs and have a standing presence in community health fairs.

“Last year the committee worked hard at constructing the brochure and making sure relevant information was included in an eye-catching fashion, and we have distributed the brochures to a wide range of people,” said Kaitlin Garrett, co-chair of SPUDS. “It is very neat to see the process come full circle and see the brochure get out to the public. It is a wonderful opportunity to be able to educate children and their parents about the importance of properly taking care of their medications. Hopefully this program will continue to grow and make a difference in our community.”

The UP! Coalition and SPUDS have an important presence at community events. Most recently, SPUDS handed out information at the Butterfield Health Fair, with regard to their Vile of Life campaign and safe storage of prescription medications. Another representative of the UP! Coalition was also at the health fair educating participants on the statewide Dose of Reality campaign. A large Dose of Reality billboard was on display to draw further attention to the dangers of sharing prescription medications. The billboard, which features a prescription medication bottle and states “Prescription painkillers can be as addictive as heroin. nmprevention.org,” has also received approval from another UP! Coalition partner, the Doña Ana County Health and Human Services Department, to be displayed at the Butterfield Community Center until mid November. It will then be circulated throughout the county at various community centers through the end of the year.

The UP! Coalition will continue striving to create an environment for youth and young adults in Doña Ana County that is free of prescription drug abuse by educating our community members on the dangers of accessibility and improper storage. Building a coalition of partners is a key component in achieving this goal. “We are happy to have valuable coalition partners like SPUDS because we know that positive collective impact happens when sectors of the community are committed to working together,” shared Marisol Diaz, UP! Coalition program manager.

For more information on the Pre-Pharmacy Society and SPUDS, visit http://cpp.nmsu.edu/pps.

A Community that’s Aware is a Community that Cares is submitted by the Unified Prevention! (UP!) Coalition for a Drug-Free Doña Ana County, an initiative of the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico. For more information on the coalition call 575.521.4794.